Gelo di Melone

Watermelon juice thickened with starch and set in the fridge, never frozen.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg watermelon flesh, seeds removed
• 80 g caster sugar
• 60 g cornflour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 40 g pistachios, chopped
• 20 g dark chocolate, in small pieces
• jasmine flowers, if you have them

Method

1. Blend the watermelon and pass it through a sieve. You want about 1 litre of clear juice, with the pulp pressed out.
2. Whisk a ladle of the cold juice into the cornflour until there are no lumps, then stir that back into the rest with the sugar.
3. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes until it thickens and just comes to a boil. It must boil briefly or the starch stays chalky.
4. Stir the cinnamon in, pour into a mould or six glasses, and press cling film onto the surface.
5. SET IT IN THE FRIDGE, 4 HOURS. THIS IS NOT AN ICE. The name means jelly, not frozen — it is a starch-set pudding in the blancmange family, and freezing it would turn the set watery as the starch gel breaks.
6. Turn out or serve in the glasses, scattered with pistachios, chocolate and jasmine.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes